Saudi Arabia on Tuesday approved its state budget for 2025 that forecasts a fiscal deficit of 101 billion riyals ($26.88 billion).

The deficit is in line with a preliminary government projection made in September and would equate to about 2.3% of gross domestic product.

Declining oil prices and extended voluntary production cuts by the world's largest oil exporter have weighed on Saudi Arabia's revenue in recent years but Riyadh is pushing ahead with a spending surge to boost growth and deliver on its Vision 2030 economic transformation plan.

Total expenditure for 2025 is projected at 1.285 trillion riyals, which is the same as projected in September and likely to equate to about 30% of GDP over the next three years. Total revenue is expected at 1.184 trillion riyals.

($1 = 3.7568 riyals)

(Reporting by Yousef Saba in Riyadh, Nadine Awadalla and Nayera Abdallah in Dubai, Editing by Edmund Blair and Susan Fenton)